10 Reasons We Disagree with Rectangular-Shape House Designs
Over the years, architects have been constructing rectangular houses, especially for residential purposes. However, in recent years, this type of construction is starting to become obsolete, as more and more people embrace other house designs. There are various reasons as to why the rectangle shape house design is becoming unfavorable while other shapes such as the square and more recently the circle-shaped houses are a favorite. This article details some of the reasons why rectangular shape house designs should be done away with.
1. High energy costs
The rectangle shape of a house comes with an elongated nature that increases the contact area of the outer walls, relative to the internal volume of the rooms. They have a larger surface area relative to the available floor space. This means that there is an increased area exposed to the weather outside and will, therefore, take more energy to heat up or cool the interior. According to Bebee Producer, a rectangular house has a lot of dead space such as the corners where cold air accumulates.
2. It is costly to build
Rectangular houses have more wall length as compared to round houses thus more materials are needed to build a single unit of rectangular housing. Approximately 15 -20% more materials are needed to create a rectangular design compared to square or round designs. They also take up a lot of materials for the same floor area and are much slower to build as compared to round houses. Rectangle houses are not only costly to build they are also quite costly to maintain due to their higher exterior surface area.
3. They take up a lot of land space
A lot of land is taken up in the construction of a rectangular house because one has to accommodate various rooms, the width of the house as well as its length.
4. Rectangular houses are asymmetrical
For someone who is obsessed with order or is simply a perfectionist , then a rectangle house is not for you. Most people find decorating a rectangular house difficult because there is no symmetry hence you things may not be exactly where you want them to be. The same can’t be said for a square house because it makes it easier to keep things in a symmetrical manner when decorating.
5. It creates a problem when planning
A rectangular house makes a room look stretched. The appearance of stretched rooms may create a problem when it comes to space planning and sector proportions. In most cases, it makes it close to impossible to make any significant space segmentation.
6. Not appealing
Rectangular house designs have been around longer than we care to imagine. As such,they have become all too boring and look somewhat traditional and old. Some even liken the rectangular design to that of a rail coach. Unlike a round house where the roof structure provides a unique architectural design to it, the rectangular roofing design is simply too plain and common.
7. They are not resistant to extreme weather conditions
Unlike a round house, a rectangular house does not have a lot of interconnected points. These points in a round house give the house a combination of strength and flexibility and are what usually ensure a house is left standing even after a tsunami or an earthquake has hit. According to Inhabitat, The waves of a tsunami and the strong winds move naturally around a round building as opposed to a rectangular house where the waves can get caught in the corners. A round roof also ensures that strong winds don’t lift the structure and leave the building bare in what is called air-planing.
8. Acoustics
If we talk about the acoustics in a rectangular house compared to a round house, there is a huge difference. The curve of the round house always softens the various sounds inside the house and creates harmony. The round shape also blocks noises from outside from coming into the house. The rectangular house has solid walls that usually create an echo making sounds inside seem louder than they actually are. If you are having a party this might seem fine to you but if you like the harmony and serenity of acoustics in your house then the rectangular house is not for you.
9. Lack of flexibility
Rectangular houses are fixed. You can’t create a layout in a circular motion or any other way. The house and all the things in it are rigid or once in a while can be moved from one place to the next but that is as far as it goes. The curve appeal that a round house provides can’t be found in a rectangular house. The curve of the round house also creates an illusion of space and makes the furniture appear as if it is floating away from the walls.
10. Climate control and renewable energy
Since rectangular houses don’t have a dome roof, there is no space for heated air to rise. Due to the little space, the roof uses up a lot of external energy to circulate the temperature in the room. Therefore, there is little fresh air circulating a room in a rectangular house due to lack of constant air circulation. There is also limited exposure to solar energy during the day. This is because, for a round house, the rays of the sun are perpendicular to its external walls but for a rectangular house, the rays have to hit corners for them to be bounced back, therefore, the amount of sunlight is limited.
Summary
During the old times, people liked constructing round houses because they found them much safer and comfortable. This, however, doesn’t mean that we are not safe in our rectangular houses but the cons outweigh the pros in this case and it might be time to switch from rectangle shaped house designs to other designs such as the square or circle ones.
